Reader Says He Was Tackled At Walmart For Not Showing Receipt

By cwaltersNovember 16, 2009

Robby didn’t feel like showing his receipt to the Walmart receipt checker, and when the guy came after him, Robby ignored him. That’s when other shoppers started closing in on him, and why he started running.

First of all, I’d like to say that the general consensus of this story is split between “you’re a douchebag” and “you should sue them”. Being a long-time reader, I’ve seen many “detained illegally” type stories, and I know my rights more or less.

Being the last day for the $200 Xbox 360 Arcade with $100 gift card at Walmart and coincidentally also being console banned the same day, I was eager to try and score one. I called around and managed to find exactly one in Woodstock, GA on Highway 92 (about 30 minutes away), but they were unable to hold it for me. I make my way to the Walmart, and briskly walk towards the electronics department and am able to buy one there. I pay with cash and put the change and the receipt in my wallet (with a bunch of other change and receipts).

I leave the store, and as per usual, I don’t bother to show them my receipt since it’s not legally required, and there are about a dozen other people leaving at the same time. I go to my phone to set up GPS to find my way home, and I hear the greeter/bag checker yelling “RECEIPT! RECEIPT!” as I make my way towards my car. Apparently some Walmart patrons heard and decide to be good samaritans and come after me.

At this point running towards my car on the other side of the parking lot, one of them TACKLES ME, and I lose my right shoe a few yards away from where I land. The guy is pinning me down and easily weights twice as much as me, and I have the scrapes on the elbow, hand, and wrist to show for it. The greeter/bag checker catches up and grabs me by my arm, and I tell him to let go or I’ll press charges for assault. I tell him about three times, and he ends up taking the Xbox back inside the store.

I find my receipt amongst the others in my wallet and show it to the onlookers and the tackler’s cronies who all think I’m a thief. I take it inside and show it to the greeter/bag checker, he looks at it, still doesn’t believe I actually purchased it, gives it back, then needs to look at it again because he forgot to check the date/time. I really wish I had gotten a picture of the guy who tackled me so I could press charges and also post him on PeopleOfWalmart.com.

I guess everyone’s guilty until proven guilty at Walmart even if it’s not legally required to show receipt and they are not allowed to physically restrain you. Call the police? Fine. I’m sure they’ll love to hear that customer bought an Xbox 360.

Note: I deleted and re-published this post due to an error. Because of this, the first several comments were lost. My apologies.

A) How do you know I don’t know how to take care of myself? I could have taken self defense course or know some kung fu or something?
B) If they clock in at 500 pounds, the only thing they’ll be chasing down is a doughnut.

@gp1138: I know this puts me in the minority, but OP’s a douchebag. He didn’t have a bag of M&Ms, he was walking out with a freaking Xbox under his arm.

Ordinarily I don’t support showing your receipt, but if the receipt-checker lets someone just saunter out with a stolen Xbox, he might lose his job. Just show the poor guy making minimum wage your receipt for a second.

Also, when I bought my Xbox from Target, I paid at the back of the store and did walk right out unquestioned. I thought it was odd at the time.

@JennQPublic: Well, it’s not just that you’re in the minority, you’re just wrong on the facts: no, the receipt checker will *not* lose his job for letting him walk right out, because it is the clear policy of Wal-Mart not to chase *anybody* even if they know for a fact that the person *is* a thief, In reality, it is a firing offense for the receipt checker to physically accost anybody. Moreover, in these circumstances, the law is on the op’s side, as shopkeeper’s privilege would not apply in any state.

@gp1138: This is stupid. Wal-Mart keeps game consoles behind glass in the electronics dept. If you ask for one, they get it and you have to pay for it back there. I know sometimes they ask if you’re going to continue shopping and if you are they’ll hold it for you or send it up to the main register. But there is really no way you can steal an Xbox 360. So the fact that they took it back just because he didn’t want to show them the receipt is crazy.

Luckily our wal-mart doesn’t HAVE receipt checkers. Hell, I’ve seen people walk out and set off the alarms and they don’t seem to care.

I was thinking exactly that. You can’t even get an XBOX without begging for them to pull it out of the glass. Then they watch you like a hawk to make sure you pay for it in the ‘electronics’ section. Should you leave the electronics section without the guard (who’s watching your every move) pay for it, he immediately challenges you.

@Avrus: If i were a scummy employee, I’d work a scam w/ friends to be at the electronic desk and print a strip of receipt paper for them to hold. that would get them out the door. This is what the receipt checkers are really doing – policing “friends” or allies of crooked employees who either ring up a dummy item or don’t ring up the xbox at all when processing the sale. Again, the whole policy stinks because the normal customer never agreed to checking in the first place. But that’s why it exists.

@Dyscord: When I bought mine from Target, they had it behind the counter, but the only thing between me and it was one of those curly plastic cords.

@treimel: The receipt checker didn’t ‘accost’ him, he (at most) grabbed him by the arm. And you can’t tell me that he wouldn’t get in trouble if OP was stealing an Xbox. Maybe not fired, but written up, which can lead to termination, eventually.

Most of the time, asking to see a receipt is unreasonable, but in this case, it was reasonable. The OP was the unreasonable one. His own actions made him look suspicious.

@thisistobehelpful: Oh definitely. You can probably sue Walmart here – the checker is NOT supposed to attempt to catch thieves anyways, haven’t there been stories of employees catching thieves and being fired for it for not following store policy? The checker was yelling it – getting “good” samaritans to help. That has to fall under some sort of accountability.

@illtron: If someone suspects you are a thief, follows you, and you take off running, that is an act of guilt, not innocence.

Tackling a thief on the store’s property might get the employee in trouble for possibly violating policy, but it’s not unjustified.

Now, if the OP had just been minding his own business, walked out with his property normally (rather than acting guilty like he admits he did), and was tackled, that would be another matter entirely. As it is though, I’d say that the OP was at fault here, for acting like a thief in front of an employee who obviously already suspected him of shoplifting.

This is exactly what happened. All was fine until the WalMart employee started yelling “receipt” at the customer which caused other customers to run at the guy. Frankly, if I saw a few burly guys, not WalMart employees, running at me I’d run away too.

@Difdi: @Difdi: I agree with you in regards to how it must have looked. However, if someone twice your size starts running at you I bet you’d start running too. Especially seeing as there was no apparent reason for the guy to be running at him.

@Difdi: “You say potato…” Running from people who are chasing you and yelling at you isn’t necessarily “an act of guilt.” That’s the act of a person being attacked by an angry group of people. And in this scenario, it’s an angry group of people who falsely assumed based on their own ignorance that a person who doesn’t show a receipt must definitely be a thief.

Tackling a thief on the store’s property is unjustified if that person is not actually known to be a thief. Even if they are a thief, it’s still unjustified depending on the laws of your state. Receipt checkers aren’t necessarily security guards/loss prevention staff and they’re definitely not police officers.

Imagine you’re leaving the store and you get a call from a relative saying that your (insert relative here) is dying and you need to get there right away. You skip the receipt line and start running for your car. Do you think it’s justifiable that someone tackle you? Thieves aren’t the only people who run from those who are chasing them. And if you’re going to ask: yes, even if you are innocent, you do have something to fear.

This is why we have police, who are allowed to detain suspicious people because they’ve been trained in the responsibilities that go along with this power. Walmart employees and fat guys in the parking lot have not.

@Difdi: I am sorry, but if I was being chased by a mob of Walmart patrons (who can weight well over 300 pounds) I would run for my life as well.

The guy was going to get tackled/physically restrained no mater what he did. Even if he stopped and just stood there you can bet your ass some of the gung ho “good samaritans” would’ve tackled him regardless.

@Difdi: I don’t think it was an employee who tackled him. He says “some Walmart patrons” decided to get in on the game and one of those tackled him. Definitely submit a police report and get the parking lot security tape from Walmart here.

@Chris Walters: hahahahahaha that would be epic. However you COULD have worked in a jab about how the treatment for that scratch was declined by the insurance company, because being an alleged libertarian is a pre-existing condition. And how that led to gangrene. So now A&F refuses to hire the OP, and he cant even use a car, because the only cars that could have been modified for his use were all crushed under the Cash4Clunkers program.

@IphtashuFitz: Chances are also pretty damned slim of that video surveillance ever getting into the OP’s hands. He probably should’ve called the police immediately to press charges against the jerk that tackled him. Can’t say I’d be thinking that clearly if it’d just happened to me, though. I would’ve probably been a little too pissed…

I don’t get these repeated WalMart stories. I worked Best Buy loss prevention for a time, and it was made *perfectly* clear that we really couldn’t do anything. If I ask you for your receipt and you say no, I can’t do anything about it. Hell, if I *know* you’re stealing and I don’t have you on camera 100% of the time, I can’t do anything about it.

I don’t get why WalMart seems to train their LP people into thinking they’re literally law enforcement.

@MattAlbie: I get what you’re saying. I was asked to show my receipt last Tuesday at my local Best Buy after I purchased my copy of COD:MW2. I politely said “No, Thank you” and the gentleman told me to have a nice day. That was the end of it. I don’t understand how Wal-Mart feels that you are obligated to show your receipt.

@MattAlbie: You need to spend some time supervising human beings in a work environment.
Whenever something goes wrong, it will almost always be because someone either didn’t think or decided to do something different that they’ve always done and/or been trained to do (as in pursue and grab a customer.)
Then a supervisor, or management, will be criticized for “allowing” such a thing to happen, even if he/she’s done every humanly possible thing to prevent it, short of (in this case) being there and doing the ticket checking himself/herself.

@jeffjohnvol: It would be nice if they had a reason, other than someone leaving the store with a bag of merchandise (which would be just about everyone).

Around here, the employees don’t call the cops unless they SEE someone stealing something. Like, the dude walked into the store with an empty wal-mart bag and then left with it full without stopping at the registers. That’s a reason to accuse someone of shoplifting.

@Jabberkaty: A lot of stores (mostly grocery stores, I’m not sure if Walmart does) encourage you to reuse bags to save money for them and reduce waste. I see some people go into stores with plastic bags to get their bag discount.

I wonder how that would affect their case against someone who brings in a bag, purchases something, and then walks out without showing a receipt.

Wow, yes, I would file a police report and then press to get the security footage so you can press charges against the one who tackled you and the one who started the small riot (Greeter). Walmart needs sent a message that consumers won’t be treated like criminals.

@FooSchnickens – BPH Free: Be careful in completely believing this guy. While there is nothing directly to the story that rings true, he’s already an admitted criminal. “Being the last day for the $200 Xbox 360 Arcade with $100 gift card at Walmart and coincidentally also being console banned the same day, I was eager to try and score one. I” The reason he was banned was because he was using a hacked console (quite a few people were banned in the past week, according to Microsoft over 100,000.)

Please do not confuse “violated terms of service” with committing a crime. He is not a criminal because MS banned him from an online account.

I have three xboxes, all modded to run Linux, we use them for the graphical rendering on the cheap. I am sure If I ever tried to connect later to xbox live they would ban me, and I can assure you I am not a criminal.

I agree, something smells fishy….or could it be Wal-Mart astroturfing to make themselves look tougher against shoplifters than the law allows?

Think of it. The whole “WalMart will illegally assault and beat you if you don’t show you receipt and scare the pants off you so much that you won’t dare file assault charges” story can be itself an ultimate deterrent to shoplifting.

Where’d the bunch of comments go that were already posted about 7 minutes ago??

I say screw the consensus. You are both a douche bag and should sue. A Douche bag because instead of diffusing the situation of having a receipt checker and a number of angry Walmart patrons chasing you to “stop a thief”, you didn’t take out the receipt and ran. Sue them because your being a douche bag still doesn’t allow the receipt checker or anyone else to illegally detain you.

My only question on this is why are you shopping there if you know they check receipts and you have a problem with it? That is what is messed up about this everytime it comes up, the OP knows they check recepts but shops there anyway.

Your right to be a/an (insert colorful adjective here)does not extend to you inflicting it on someone else.

If Walmart shot each paying customer in the foot on their way out I wouldn’t shop there despite them illegally shooting me. Doesn’t matter that I’m right, the best decision is to shop somewhere else.

The OP decided that it was worth the savings on his xbox to go to Walmart and not show his receipt. He admits he’s read these stories before, and he knew that there would be a chance he would run into a problem by not showing his receipt, yet he still made the decision to walk past them and keep walking.

Maybe next time he’ll make a different decision that it’s worth less than a minute of his time to show the receipt to avoid having the possibility of being tackled. I know I do.

@wrjohnston91283: Inherit issue there though is now he has a case against them and that Xbox could potentially cost them a lot more than $200. I have been asked for my receipt many times, I never show it as is my right. You want to be a corporate tool, go right ahead…I will be over here happily ignoring stupid requests.

It’s idiotic for anyone at the store to have thought he stole the XBox. Last time I purchased a game console at my local Walmart I had to pay for it right then and there before they handed it over to me… Either that or they would have held it for me until I finished the rest of my shopping and they would have brought it up to the register so I could pay for it. At no point did they ever let that thing leave their sight until it was paid for. I’d have called the police to file assault charges against the jerk who tackled you, that’s just not cool in any circumstance, especially over a $200 item.

Dude, you should have called the police. You were assaulted by someone who is not an agent of the store, and who detained you for no reason. Even the receipt checker can not detain you unless they witnessed the actual “shoplifting”. Sorry, but if I got tackled, you better believe there would be hell to pay.

@GitEmSteveDave_Isn’tFreshPerked: Holy fark I hope I would be alert enough to notice someone running up behind me like that. Internet Tough Guy Syndrome aside, I do have moderate martial arts training, and I’d love for a chance to apply what I’ve learned. Of course, part of that training is being alert at all times, but hell, I could be blindsided just as easily as that guy. Even being let up, how do I know my life’s not still in danger? All I know is I just got tackled by someone I don’t know and am surrounded by more. How could that not end badly?

@GitEmSteveDave_woot!sOffSoHard: In my state (Maine) that could be a felony (I’m not a lawyer). Robbery is when someone assaults you to steal something. So, you can steal someone’s wallet and it’s theft, you push them down and take their wallet it robbery.

@Scuba Steve: That depends on the area he’s in. Generally “Shoplifting at Wal*Mart” isn’t a huge priority for the local PD. I worked in the suburbs in Ohio for a year and we always had to wait like 45 minutes for the cops to arrive unless something was *in progress* at the time.

I don’t understand the point in refusing to show your receipt. People steal. Every time I show a receipt, I figure it’s just another situation where the retarded behavior of others has once again ruined things for those of us who understand how to behave properly. I show my receipt and leave and enjoy my purchase. Nobody tackles me. What do you hope to gain by refusing to show your receipt? 15 seconds of your time? The fact that you are purchasing video games clearly shows you’re not real concerned with maximizing that particular resource, so there goes that argument. The fact that your Xbox was banned ( for modding it to run pirated/stolen games ) is pretty strong evidence showing you don’t have a problem stealing. People who get all worked up on this “you have no right to ask for my receipt” bullshit are walking around with a sense of entitlement. Let’s be watchdogs to ensure that retailers don’t take advantage of consumers, but shit, quit your crying!

@senor_tron: And perhaps you missed the news recently that thousands and thousands of Xbox owners were banned recently and many of them are crying foul on Xbox because they didn’t mod anything. So there goes that argument.

@AbsoluteIrrelevance:
Ok, i will reserve judgement on the guy being a thief. I suppose it’s possible that he is one of small percentage of people who somehow got burned by an overzealous Microsoft DRM progrom ( scoff ). Regardless, show your receipt and avoid getting tiny road rash on your nice elbow ( waa!).

@senor_tron: You do know that many people, myself included, mod their game consoles they can play backup copies of games. It’s a wise decision when children use the console. Just one scratched game or movie disc costs more than the console mod.

@AbsoluteIrrelevance: i’ve seen lots of whining from people who have been banned, but i’ve yet to see one instance where it was proven to be a false positive. if you got banned then you were doing something contrary to the terms and conditions of live membership…period

@senor_tron: @senor_tron: “People who get all worked up on this ‘you have no right to ask for my receipt’ bullshit are walking around with a sense of entitlement.”

Just because you have low self-esteem doesn’t mean people who consider themselves human beings are “entitled.” Just be aware that though you may be weigh a lot, tackling people in the name of your corporate masters can still be met with adverse action from those of us who also feel entitled to weapons.

@senor_tron: Hell, 15seconds? Most receipt checkers I’ve been around just look to see if the paper says “DIS IS NOTS A RESEEPT”. It’s like, 3seconds of standing there– and I fail to see how it infringes on my rights when they’re just trying to stop shoplifters without the annoying RFID alarms.

@senor_tron: Maybe it’s the fact that I just got done asking a Wal*Mart drone to unlock a cabinet for me that’s already preventing me from stealing the damn thing in the first place. I don’t care about that, and if I broke the glass to get the console, chances are I’d be tackled before I left the electronics section, much less the entire store.

I’m annoyed with Wal*Mart greeters being militant about showing a receipt because generally they stand where they can watch me walk away from the checkout lanes. They watched me purchase the items that I have in my bag. If I have two or three bags, it’s a hassle to dig in my wallet (in my pile of receipts) to find the one I just put in there, plus it’s pretty much the store deciding that if they can’t find the criminals, they’ll just add another layer of “security” to the mix that treats ALL customers as if they’re criminals. And it’s not a fucking sense of entitlement. I put down my hard-earned cash for the items I just bought. I’m not a fucking shoplifter, and if I saw someone shoplifting, you know I’ll be the first one alerting store security.

I don’t make a scene when I walk past receipt checkers. I generally smile and say “no, thank you” and walk into the parking lot. I’ve never had one chase after me, and if they did, I’d get in my car and leave, plain and simple. No need for confrontation. People who DO want confrontation, those are the people with the misplaced sense of entitlement.

Exactly. You should know by now that Wal-Mart, Costco and Sam’s club do receipt checking. But I think such policies should be posted clearly before you enter into the store. I’m sure their are a few dozen people that don’t know that these stores do that.

I paid for my stuff so I have usually have no problems with the receipt checker. I also check my receipt. If any receipt checker starts making up crap there will be hell to pay! I think that’s the one thing that irks some people. That if one underpaid workers starts making up stuff against you, a paying customer, then it is YOU will have a crappy day. It is YOU that have to be “caught and held” for no reason, where there are no police or lawyers. Then it is YOU that have to prove your innocence to the local police before you get an ounce of remedy in our so-called justice system (and then only civil law by suing). Also you know that if WalMart even considers firing that person you know your face will likely be “less than welcome” to WalMart. And all because someone “flakes” out on you for no reason.

But remember, if you go to Wal-Mart expect underpaid receipt checkers. You know the rules and dangers. This is why I take much of my business elsewhere, but I still shop at Wal-Mart once in a while.

I’m gonna get people firing across my bow for this, but if you run like you stole it, not surprisingly, you’re going to make people think you stole it.

I don’t disagree about not showing a receipt though. I had a receipt checker watch me as I paid, then as I left the cash register with my bag. As I approached she asked “Do you have a receipt?” To which I answered “Yes, thanks” and kept walking.

I would have not run and offered to call the police if any of them had a problem with that. I’d still call the police, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the first question the cop asks is “Well, why didn’t you show your receipt?”

I always read here that we should be firm about not showing receipts if we don’t want to, so I finally tried it today. The guy asked if I had my receipt, and I said, “yes, thank you” and kept walking. He kept walking after me, and asked to see it. I said no. I ended up feeling like a witch, so I guess I won’t be doing that again.

@mbz32190: It all depends on whether or not the store is determined an “at-risk” store for increased shortage. The rent-a-cop you are referring to is not a rent-a-cop, but a Target Protection Specialist. They have thankless jobs, anyone who works retail would be able to tell you.

Ehhh….
It isn’t worth it to press charges against the guy that tackled him. Yes I do know that it is assault but really it was acted in good faith. Well somewhat. For all we know the tackler could have easily thought he was doing the right thing in this case. I mean the injuries that Robby got were minimal and easily not life threatening in this case. I really wouldn’t want to ruin some guys life for 3 years in jail. It really isn’t worth it in this case. If Robby did sustain massive injuries that crippled him for life, then he easily should have.

Also the smartest thing that Robby did was to run away from Wal-Mart because that doesn’t look suspicious at all. Most of this is his fault for being so smug about receipt checking. Oh and running.

The only thing I suggest is suing Wal-Mart for theft and assault. They grabbed the Xbox out of his hands and took it back in.

@stevedastampede: He didn’t “run away”. What did you expect him to do? Not hand them the receipt and continue to stand in front of him? Of course he went back to his car. Going to your car after leaving a store is not “running away”.

@stevedastampede: What are you talking about? So wrongful injuries that are not life threatening do not merit compensation? I live near this specific Wal-mart and I assure you whatever methed out redneck tackled him most probably deserves the life lesson.

You need to call the police and a lawyer. you were harmed and assaulted(or whatever its called in your state) and you also need to have it reported for medical reasons. what happens if next week your injury gets infected and need serious attention? you need to protect yourself.

You shouldn’t have been tackled, but could you have been any more suspicious? Walk out in silence when asked for a receipt, then when asked again you decide to run? Considering the kind of tattooed, mullet-toting wannabe vigilantes I usually see at WalMart, I’m not that surprised that one of them decided to go Brian Urlacher on your ass.

When you purchase something at a store, especially something like a xbox, you can expect to show a receipt. If you dont like it shop at smaller stores that dont have a receipt checker.

Its like the people who feel they are violated just because a cop pulls them over, with no clear evidence. I am sure you could put up a protest about it being a illegal stop, but really won’t that cause more harm then good, unless of course you are hiding something.

Obviously the person that would be possibly liable is not walmart, because they have no control over what their customers do, but the asshole that tackled you.

But you should know, every time that you look at the scrape, you should remember its because you were big headed and just refused to do something most others have no problem doing (or do, even if they think its bs).

@csparks: Awesome. That’s what we need more of Sparks, “why not comply if you aren’t hiding anything mentality”.

Bah!

Could the OP displayed his reciept? Absolutely.
Need he do so to exit the store, safely? Not hardly.

File a report.
File a suit.
Get the guy that attacked you.
Get the greeter for inciting.
Have them replace the Xbox (Broken or not, on principle).
And it probably wouldn’t hurt to ice the cake with an EECB, for that matter.

@csparks: I don’t understand the words ‘make a big deal about it’ in this context. Wal-Mart made a big deal about the receipt, not the OP. The OP’s actions were legally and morally correct, and he cannot be faulted for acting the way he did. He’s not in control of Wal-Mart or the overzealous idiots who chased him down.

All I know is that when Thomas Paine refused to show his receipt at the Walton Mercantile in Richmond in 1769, he inspired a nation of patriots. And Crispus Attucks fell in Boston in the winter of 1770 because he maintained that no man could force him to show a receipt. “I shall show my Receipt to Mo Man,” Patrick Henry shouted on the floor of the House of Burgesses in 1774, “this Poor Richard’s is Mine from the Moment I Concluded the Transaction with the Fine Merchant and I Shall Not Be Prevented from moving about Freely on my perambulations!”

The Redcoats did not march on Lexington and Concord to seize the militia weapons there – they were going to check the receipt that Samuel Adams refused to show a tea merchant in Watertown.

Standing up to the blue-vested vermin who stand between the Walmart cashier and the blessed freedom of the parking lot is the most American of actions. We should all say what General McAuliffe said to the receipt checker at the Bastogne Best Buy, “Nuts”.

I hate people like this. If it causes a scene, just show your damn receipt. Walking past the receipt checker: fine, but if the receipt checker is going to start screaming at you, be the bigger man and just show the receipt or turn around and say “I bought it at the electronics counter” instead of trying to cause a scene that you can brag about on the Consumerist.

I think yall are missing the salient point here, he knew that wal-mart check receipts. Did he really think he was sticking it to the man by not showing his receipt? No he was being difficult to some hack making minimum wage.

I don’t like several of walmart’s policies, how they treat their suppliers, their employees, their union busting tactics etc etc. I have 2 within a 5 mile radius of my house that I am sure my taxes helped build. I do not shop there, period.

Go ahead and say I am giving up my 4th amendment right over a receipt, I’ll top you by saying your selling your soul for a 2 dollar t-shirt

The one by 92 & Trickum Rd? I live just a couple blocks away. That’s crazy, but even though I’d love an excuse not to shop there anymore, I must admit… Though there may be a law that says you don’t have to show your receipt, what do you have to lose? A few seconds of your time so they can skim over it? Give me a fucking break. By running out of the store when they ask for a receipt, your body language says you stole it.

I hate the receipt-checkers and am shopping less and less at stores that have them.

“Sure, I have two kids who want to get out of here, an arm full of bags, and have just spent plenty of money at your store. Please treat me like a criminal until I show a fucking piece of paper that anyone who really WAS stealing something from here would have thought of.”

I love how they think that they can spot something stolen in my 7 bags of stuff in the 5 seconds they look at my receipt and my bags.

It’s even annoying at Costco and they’re REALLY nice at every level. How much more so at the Wal-Mart where every employee stares at you in vapid disdain?

Well, that’s a little more exciting than my Best Buy episode on Saturday. Being an avid Consumerist.com reader and wanting to have some fun, as we were leaving the entrance was blocked with about 8 people getting their receipts checked.

I said to my friend “watch this.” I went to the side between a person and the door and proceeded to walk out when the receipt checker said “I need to see your receipt,” to which I replied, “are you accusing me of shoplifting?”.

His response…”you’re an asshole.” My friend stood there and stared him down and couldn’t believe an Best Buy employee would say that in front of all of the other customers that were standing at the entrance.

He didn’t chase me down, we walked to the car and left. At that point I decided to call the manager of the store and tell him the story. I told him exactly what happened and he said he’d take care of it.

My friend couldn’t believe I didn’t ask for a credit or some sort of compensation. I said the manager had enough on his plate to have to go and deal with an employee who curses at customers.

It’s the Best Buy at 5th and Alton Road in Miami Beach. The manager’s name is Jason or Josh and the door checker was a bald guy with a goatee. I wish someone else would have the luxury of having some more fun with them as I won’t be back at Best Buy for a long time.

If you don’t want your receipt checked, patronize a store that doesn’t check receipts. Seems to me he dared them, and they called his bluff.

It also seems to me that he got banned from XBox Live for modding his console. Hmmm… I wonder why anyone would mod their console? Maybe we should ask all the folks that got laid off at EA this year, or the guys without jobs who made Halo Wars.

Where’s the part in the story where the OP decided to return the unit to WalMart for a full refund and take his business elsewhere, perhaps to a store that doesn’t encourage customers to tackle each other for not showing a receipt?

This is the biggest non-issue ever. I have no legal requirement to tip at a restaurant. Does that mean I just bail every time? It’s called common courtesy. Are you familar with that?

Who else’s job do you blatantly disrespect to their face? While I don’t agree with many places policies, I don’t go there and give everyone a snuff attitude because I am entitled to. The poor person has a job to protect the assets of a store. Do you realize that items sometimes get missed in the process of scanning? Does that entitle you to free products?

How many of you are against receipt checking but will shop at Costco or Sam’s because “it’s in the agreement”? Why does that not interfere with your precious rights? Costco and Sam’s are basically calling all of their members theives then.

@Extended-Warranty: Just cause its an easy takedown: YOU need to grow up. A tip is paying someone for service. A receipt check is some company being lame and wasting my time. They are not equal. I shop at Costco and Sams because I only go there once in a while, and people move giant carts of stuff. Plus they dont check your whole cart, they basically just make sure you dont have a TV or something. So its not really a big deal. Its not the same thing as Best Buy making you get receipt checked for two things. Also, the costco check has no stigma. The Best Buy/Walmart check does, whether anyone likes it or not.

I dont see how you are disrespecting the receipt checkers job.If he wants to prevent shoplifting, he can patrol the store or check the back room…thats where more thefts happen.

As far as I am concerned, the OP should sue. I never tell let my recepit get checked. Its not my fault they have that job, its the stores. And, yes I hang up on telemarketers too. Again, its not my fault they have that job, so why should my time be wasted?

@Extended-Warranty: You’re not making any sense. You might be able to argue that showing a receipt is common courtesy, like tipping. So should you get tackled when you fail to tip or tip insufficiently. I know you really want to treat what might be socially comfortable as some kind of legal obligation that should be enforced with violence. But they aren’t. Your argument seems to be, “But they really really want to check your receipt, so physical force is ok.”

It’s not.

Disregarding a receipt checker is hardly disrespecting him. I can’t help that management has chosen that exact time and place to attempt a search of my person. I’m going to reject that search as firmly as if it were attempted outside the store, or down the street, or in front of my house. Sure, they’ve done a lot to make saying no a socially uncomfortable thing to do, but that’s not my problem. If they’re not happy with the results they’re getting, they should stop creating the situation.

Most Walmarts have video survallence of their parking lots. Get a lawyer, have the tapes pulled, and hope you can identify the person or persons that assulted you. Then file lawsuits against them and Walmart.

What is the big deal? Did it make you feel like a big man to not show your receipt? Ooooooh, you showed that minimum wage worker. Way to stick it to the man. Wal-mart sucks and you showed them by spending your money with them, ignoring their door greeter, and getting your @$$ kicked in the parking lot by strangers. It’s your world and we’re just grateful to live in it.

I’ve never been asked for a receipt leaving Wally World. I’m a rather normal, clean-cut, 39 y/o male. I just walk right past them and smile.

When I buy something at Fry’s Electronics, I always show my receipt and let them inspect the bags. That’s their policy, and I accept that. They also mark your receipt. I guess so people won’t walk in, steal, then leave showing the same receipt.

The problem is Wally’s policy, (whatever it is), is inconsistent. They should mandate that all receipts are checked, or none. Leaving it up to an individual’s judgment on a case-by-case basis leaves way too many variables to have a fair system. They (WM) are exposing themselves to a slew of potential lawsuits.

@ninjatoddler: And bestbuy…no wait…it’s okay to have best buy check your receipt before leaving because they actually have to remove a game or system from the security apparatus (spider or slide case).

Ok, two points – first, if you shop at Walmart in the first place, you sort of deserve what you get. Plus, you act like a douche, expect to be treated like one.
Secondly, why do people get so irate about showing a receipt on the way out? Don’t you read the news? Stores are dealing with gangs of thieves who load up shopping carts full of merchandise and pushing them out the front doors. This happened at an electronics store in San Diego and the receipt checkers, who probably make minimum wage, had guns shoved in their faces.
Bottom line is, if you don’t like the policies, complain the right way, with a letter to their corporate offices. If that doesn’t work, shop someplace else. Everyone is much happier that way.
FYI – I don’t work for any store anywhere, I just see a bigger picture here of what the stores are dealing with.

@scoopjones: So a gang of armed thieves is leaving the store with cartloads of stuff, and grandpa steps in front of them and asks for a receipt. How does that do any good for the store, or grandpa? People here are complaining that receipt checking is an ineffective policy which does nothing but inconvenience and, as your reply and the original post demonstrates, endanger, innocent people, including WalMart employees.

Im sorry, but obviously none of you have been tackled on pavement before.

That pansy-scratch on his elbow IS NOT from a pavement tackle. If this were true, he would have picked the worst scratch/bruise/broken bone to photograph right?

You expect me to believe you were tackled by a 200 lbs person (assuming you’re 100lbs) and walked away with that carpet burn? Granted, the scratch “looks like” a pavement scratch, but it looks more like it’s from playing basketball or rollerblading than being EFFING TACKLED.

Too bad this didnt happen someone armed, they could have pulled gun and shot the assailant who was illegally assaulting and detaining them. Then we would have seen some national coverage to stop the scourge of receipt checking.

They should have cracked this wacko’s head open to see if human brains reside there. He is lucky to have walked away with only a bruise on the elbow. Got off easy considering the poor attitude the shopper has.

Wow,,,customers tackled you? That’s a new one. and Ganyon is correct. It sounds as though you’re the type that likes to piss others off, just because you can. Why couldn’t you just show your receipt? Because you’re a “tough guy”? lol. So really, you made your own bed. However, patrons tackling you was incredibly stupid and the fact that they were acting in the best interests of Wal-mart probably would hold both parties to negligence and battery. A good lawyer could win this case in a heartbeat.

My friend is a loss prevention manager for a large retailer, and I hear her talk about this stuff almost daily. The OP is 100% in the right in this situation. The OP walking out and not checking your receipt is not even close to a good reason to stop you. They need to see the person stealing on the camera, then walking out of the store, before stopping them.
You should do two things here, sue Wal-mart for stopping you and taking your paid merchandise back inside. People get written up and fired for mistakes like this.
More importantly, you should of gotten the name of the person that tackled you and pressed charges. Nothing gives that idiot the right to tackle you.

It’s time to lawyer up and sue. Some attorney in your area will take the case for the cut of the settlement money they’ll negotiate out of court with WalMart. The guy who tackled you? Definitely take it all the way to garnishing his paycheck.

Is it bad that I want something like this to happen to me. I’m a big biker-type guy (6’3″, 280lbs) and the reciept checkers usually don’t even ask me for my reciept, even when I see them ask everyone else in front of me. On the rare occasion that they do ask, I tell them no and keep walking. I did have one scrappy little old lady tell me that I had to in order to leave the store. I simply said, no I don’t and left the store. Why are my Wal-Mart experiences so boring?

Instead of complaining about the receipt checkers trying to do their jobs, we need to really MAKE them do their jobs. Make them a liability rather than a lame potential asset.

Here’s how:

1) Buy several small items at a store.
2) When the checker starts to look at your receipt, start unloading your bag on him.
3) Have him verify and check off each item.
4) If he balks, request to talk to the manager.
5) Complain that he isn’t doing his job.
6) Post on You-Tube.

If they want to check receipts, make them do it right. If enough people do this, the practice will stop because it will cause more problems than it solves.

I make it a purpose not to show my receipt to door checkers! After I clear the Point of Sale, the transaction is complete and the property is mine and the cash/payment is yours. Very simple. Anyone trying to detain me w/o probable cause is in trouble and may be the recipient of an ass kicking!

why did you run? that’s the stupidest reaction ever and clearly made you look guilty, even if you weren’t. haven’t you seen cops? I mean, sure, no one there was a cop and had the authority to do anything, but that doesn’t mean they won’t automatically assume you’re guilty because let’s face it, that’s the reaction of a guilty person. why? because you didn’t want them to check your receipt that badly? because you were afraid? why didn’t you just yell back at them that it’s not legally required and to get the hell away from you? why just run? that seems unbelievably stupid. and i agree with other posters – if you really knew your rights and didn’t do anything wrong, why didn’t you call the cops right then and there?

If SprawlMart really wants to check receipts on exit, they should have a sign at the entry just like Costco does which says something to the effect of “Costco reserves the right to inspect bags and recepits upon exit. Until them, just keep walkin’.

Where’s that wallet-card someone had created and shared here (or on Lifehacker?) for this exact reason?

Should have called the police right then and there. Having accepted this and walked away was stupid.
Have them arrest the guy who tackled you and the receipt checker.

1 – Guy who tackled you had no right to do so.
2 – Receipt checker – took your XBox. He stole your property. He assumed you were a thief, because you refused to participate in the security theater of letting him check your papers.

You should have filed a complaint with the police and with Walmart right then. You should have demanded Walmart replace the XBox that their employees actions caused to possibly be damaged.

“Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. Benjamin Franklin”

Yes it does not take much to show your receipt, and then maybe next you will have to show your credit card and license at the door to prove your form of payment was valid. I mean honestly, they can put a skimmed cards information on a hotel door key, we should make sure its all legal to protect everyone. And we should have to stop and open every package and make sure your not hiding things inside. But its only a small inconvenience, why not just give up all of your rights so you can be extra safe and secure. Oh and bring the receipts for what your wearing or carrying with you, because if you don’t have them we know you stole them from our store.

We don’t have customers, we have potential shoplifters.

Maybe if more people actually stopped showing receipts they would stop asking. Well Bob showed his, whats your problem. Not wanting to bother with your made up idea of security, is not proof of guilt. Being told its just a little thing, no your rights aren’t a little thing and just because your willing to give up yours doesn’t mean everyone else should.

One thing that comes to mind is if the op in this situation had a CCW and was carrying at the time. Due to the mob that chased him, you could justify that you were in fear of your life and take the appropriate action to defuse the situation. It’s going to take one person making a bad judgment call before appropriate action is taken.

The only time receipt checking should ever be a requirement is if you mutually agree to it in the case where you’re part of a warehouse club member where that is a line item in the TOS that you agree to.

I personally avoid conflict by always just carrying my receipt visible against the item. I’ve never been stopped in BestBorrow and Wallyworld to show my receipt.

I was stopped at the Walmart in Neptune, NJ for not showing a receipt while the checker was busy with another customer. A Neptune Police Officer that was stationed at the exit eventually stopped me. He checked my receipt and asked me to have a nice day. Why do the taxpayers of Neptune subsidize the security at Walmart? I will never shop in Walmart again. If anyone touches you, deck them. No one at Walmart has the right to stop you when you are leaving after you paid for your items. It is a mater of self defense. Walmart targets the lower class. If you want to shop there, expect to be treated that way. Neptune is not a nice town. It only follows suite that this type of activity takes place here.

Probably not, but that’s not the point. Macy*s and other stores like it offer special stickers and tape that clearly show you paid. If walmart can’t bother to do this why should we be botherd to help them?

@H3ion: Of course it wouldn’t have killed him to show the receipt! I really hope you don’t believe there exists a disease that is made terminal by showing a receipt for an XBox 360 Arcade to a Walmart employee.

Or do you think this is like Speed and Dennis Hopper planted a device that will blow up him and Sandra Bullock if he shows a receipt? Why would Dennis Hopper care and what from the story makes you think Sandra Bullock went with him to Walmart to buy an XBox 360. Have you seen her in those new trailers for the giant football player movie? She looks fantastic.

So no, it would not have killed him to show the receipt. It appears he didn’t see any reason to need to and didn’t expect it to be blown out of proportion as such. I hope this clarifies things for you.

@H3ion: I believe you are missing the point of this. Wal-mart has no right to even ask for your receipt. If they ask you and you comply, you are simply volunteering to show your receipt. They have no legal basis to demand this nor to detain you. If Wal-mart can’t think of a better way to minimize theft, then that is not consumer’s problem. Target uses cameras and security sensors. No one asks for your receipt. This proves that Wal-mart would rather choose the lazy way of loss-prevention as well as assuming guilt before proven guilty.

@ubermex: the WalMart guy yelled “receipt” so he could check his receipt, not thief, or anything that would seem to indict him as a thief. the crowd was just overzealous, but i don’t think it was WalMart’s fault

@ubermex: Sorry but you couldn’t be more wrong. Unless you witness a felony or are directed to act by a law enforcement officer you have zero right to touch the person. This guy should file a police report asap and hopefully get the police to identify this guy from the cameras.

Are you one of those idiot who can’t tell there is two apple, unless it is written with an “are” and a “s” at the end? Language is used for communication, as long as you get the message across, mission has accomplished. It is very clear to me that while he was running toward to his car, which was parked on the other side of the parking lot, a guy tackled him. It is that simple, why make such a big deal over a little grammar mistake. Grammar itself isn’t all that perfect, it needs all kind of exceptions.

@ElizabethD: Though his grammar leaves it open to interpretation, the interpretation that a customer running from the other side of the parking lot towards the OPs car to tackle him makes even less sense than the OP running towards his car to avoid a receipt checker.

How did a random person coming from the other side of the parking lot come to think that OP should be tackled? Most reasonable people in OPs shoes would not have run, but most reasonable pedestrians who were not off duty cops would not have run down a random guy in a parking lot based on a Walmart employee yelling “RECEIPT!”

It think it’s a bit of a stretch to say he wasn’t the one running. But perhaps OP will return and update the post to explain who he meant to say was running.

@dumpsterj: Just to be clear, a vigilante is someone who takes the law in his or her own hands. Now, the guy who tackled the OP in the parking lot because he decided he was a shoplifter? HE was a vigilante. But unless the OP bought the XBox with the intent of luring someone into attacking him so that he could punish him for the assault, the OP was not a vigilante.

@nodaybuttoday: I get a similar treatment at Target. I’m a young white woman, and I’m usually stopping on my way home from work so I’m dressed a bit nicer than I would be normally. For some reason their express lanes don’t deactivate magnetic strips consistently, so I frequently set off the detectors. I just keep walking – I don’t steal – and no one has ever walked towards me or even said anything.

@nodaybuttoday: I had my receipt checked at a big box store after the guard watched me buy a single large item and have to use a careful leverage technique to hoist it and carry it out of the store. I gave said guard a small sympathetic and understanding smile that said “We know you saw me buy this. Ciao.” But that didn’t work, even for this white female.

@NatalieErin: I’ve had the same thing happen at Target. There was even a kid in a ridiculously looking Target-themed boy scout security uniform at the entrance who completely ignored me as the detectors went off.

@senor_tron: There were “about a dozen other people leaving at the same time.” If I was leaving a store and there was a dozen-person knot at the receipt check, I’d just step around them too. I’ve done so at Fry’s with less than half that number. I’ve already been in the store for a long time, I’ve already been standing in line for a long time, I’m done & I want out. Those places are madhouses.

@senor_tron: Who are you to accuse this guy of stealing anything? You do realize that mods happen for a number of reasons, one of which is playing pirated games. OTHER reasons include playing games from other regions of the world that are not sold in a particular country (i.e. a Japanese version of a game), also the ability to store games you have legally purchased.

Also it has been reported that even the presence of a non-XBox hard-drive was enough to get some people banned.

So really, you’re just spreading false information (libel) about a guy that you don’t even know. Congrats.

@MattAlbie: Depends what the laws regarding shoplifting are in that state. Where I live (not the US), LPOs can’t touch the person until they leave the physical confines of the store since technically they aren’t shoplifting until they actually exit the store without paying.

On the other hand, the Door Greeter/Receipt Checker is almost certainly not a LPO, so it’s kind of moot.

I agree. I can guarantee that 99% of shoplifters don’t walk out of the store with a cart of merchandise and bags in their hands. They stuff crap down their pants or purses. What is the point of forcing paying customers to submit to security checks?

@Saboth: Exactly. At costco, I will show my receipt as it is part of my membership. Anywhere else can stuff it.

I won’t show my receipt. Frys, Target, Wallyworld, you name it. I haven’t shown a receipt since they started this circus, and welcome the money from the lawsuit if this happened to me.

My honey and I have several shticks we use to get out of it. One of us will run interference, blocking the way and ask some stupid question of the receipt person (Where did you get that tie? or How is your mother?) Or we answer Family Guy style: “Receipt?” “about 2:30″ etc.

@Laura Northrup: Don’t forget the part where the person doing the tackling turns out to be a Comcast CSR, and that his ultimate settlement of $125 is the net paid out by AIG after they took their $499,875 cut of the award for executive bonuses.

@Vermifuge: Here’s the wierd thing: Wal-Mart used to do this. I worked there in the mid ’90s and they had security tape for anything purchased at the electronics dept. or layaway (remember layaway?). Really distinctive and you could pick it out on a box from a long way off.

@wgrune: Well, if I put on my exam issue spotting glasses, it looks like this:

Tackler has tort actions coming his way for assault, battery, and false imprisonment.

walmart checker might get some kind of misdemeanor for inciting panic or disturbance of the peace based on local whacko statutes for yelling “RECEIPT!”, but he doesn’t get soliciting, aiding, or abetting the Tackler because he did not have a criminal mens rea.

Walmart guy gets battery for grabbing the arm of the Shopper.

He also gets a negligent, or reckless cause of action for allowing the customer to get tackled in the first place, since as an agent of walmart, he owed a duty of reasonable care to ensure the customer’s safety at an establishment open to the public.

@targetdude: Id have no issue with receipt checking if it actually worked. At the stores I’ve worked, the checkers look at the paper and move on,most don’t even care whats on it. Ive seen people, on more than one occasion walkout with product not on the receipt. Ive seen people walk out with product and show a return receipt. But i have never seen someone caught shoplifting because of a receipt checker (I have seen them stopped by a checker after the alarm went off…but thats because they were closest as opposed to doing a good job)

As far as I understand, if I am returning to my car in a Wal-Mart parking lot (in MN, mind you), with my gun on me, and someone is charging at me, and I believe my life is in danger, I can draw and shoot. This is as *I* understand it.

I was corrected in my prior question in regards to being held if they think you stole something, however that situation is, also, ambiguous.

Christians have wreaked more havoc on humanity and the world generally speaking than anyone, while pretending to be victims, let’s just agree to disagree on that.

Just in my personal life as a gay man I see over and over “Christians” want the right to kill me on the street and take away all my rights to even exist, but the second someone questions their rights, which are never threatened, they scream bloody murder. So they don’t get sympathy from me – ever.

We’ve seen on tv more than enough psycopaths that lose it when given the chance and do mass shootings, even those you suspect the least in positions that shouldn’t do so. Fort Hood ring a bell? This kind of thing just encourages them to come out of the woodwork.

This story, which you could have found on Google in two seconds if you weren’t lazy proves I was right – day after Tgiving last year:[www.nydailynews.com]

They promoted his death by opening doors to an out of control mob instead of having security establish an orderly line for entry with controlled progress of people filing single in only so many at a time.

@Areyouagoodlittleconsumer: By the way, I might add, after every single solitary mass shooting tragedy, there is the obligatory wringing of hands and falsely caring QUESTIONS by the media like

WHAT SETS PSYCHOS OFF?
HOW CAN THIS BE PREVENTED IN THE FUTURE?
WHAT ARE THE ANSWERS TO BE FOUND IN THIS TRAGEDY?
How can YOU be safe when shopping?

Now here we have a perfect pristine example as to what sets people off and raises risk, but yet again, nothing will be done until people are shot to death over it.

When you wrongly subject paying honest customers to ridiculous invasive, offensive, and ineffective security measures for no reason, it pisses them off, and some of them will go mental and lose it, reacting violently, because, well, society sucks more than ever, violence is glamorized in every media outlet possible 24/7, and people are made to think it is okay or cute to shoot and kill.

HENCE my claims above, WalMart is needlessly building up to a national tragedy mass shooting…like I said, just watch…